Dow lost 119. decliners over advancers 3-1 & NAZ went up 86.  The MLP index was off 2+ to the 244s & the REIT index fell 2+ to the 366s while yields rally.  Junk bond funds hardly budged & Treasuries were heavily sold, raising yields substantially.  Oil slipped back 1+ to the 89s & gold declined 21 to 1845.

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

Tesla (TSLA) posted its 3ird-qtr vehicle production & delivery report for 2023. Total deliveries in Q3 2023: were 435K & total production was 430K.  During the previous qtr, TSLA reported total deliveries of 466K & production was 480K.  During the same period in 2022 TSLA reported total vehicle production of 365K & deliveries of 343K.  “A sequential decline in volumes was caused by planned downtimes for factory upgrades, as discussed on the most recent earnings call,” the company said.  “Our 2023 volume target of around 1.8 million vehicles remains unchanged.”  CEO Elon Musk cautioned that TSLA would “continue to target 1.8 million vehicle deliveries this year” but expected 3rd-qtr production to decline slightly following “summer shutdowns for a lot of factory upgrades.”  The company is still not reporting on production or delivery numbers for the Semi, a class 8 electric truck, though it delivered some to an early customer.  The forecast was expecting deliveries to reach 461K for the period ending Sep 30.  An independent TSLA researcher, who uses the handle Troy Teslike on social media, was expecting deliveries of 441K vehicles.  The stock rose 3.82.
If you would like to learn more about TSLA, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/TSLA_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7

Tesla reported 435,059 deliveries for the third quarter, and production of 430,488 vehicles. 

After the United Auto Workers (UAW) expanded its strike against Ford (F), the automaker warned that hundreds of thousands of employees' jobs could be at stake if the work stoppage goes on for too long.  The union launched its simultaneous but limited strike against Detroit's Big Three 2 weeks ago, starting with a Ford plant in Michigan, a General Motors (GM) plant in Missouri & a Stellantis (STLA) plant in Ohio.  In the UAW's 2nd round of strike targets on Sep 22, Ford was spared while union leadership, led by Pres Shawn Fain, told members to walk off the job at 38 parts distribution facilities for GM & STLA.  But the union targeted Ford again in its latest expansion, announcing the shutdown of the automaker's Chicago assembly plant along with GM's assembly facility in Lansing, Michigan.  Following the escalation, Ford execs held a media briefing Fri when CEO Jim Farley said there was still time to make a contract deal that would "avert a real disaster, but not much more time, given the fragility of the supply base of all the companies."  Execs were asked about the costs Ford is sustaining from the ongoing strike & a timeline for when they may become unsustainable.  The company did not offer specifics on $ amounts, but it said that with 2 assembly plants now down, the impact on the business would be "substantial."  Then chief supply chain officer Liz Door provided the company's projections on how the strike could impact jobs.  "Our concern really is the resilience of the supply chain, particularly as we are healing post-COVID," Door said.  "You heard Jim speak about the fact that the supplier ecosystem for Michigan assembly plant is at risk. We understand today there's about 2,400 supplier employees that have been laid off. But as a consequence of the actions today, we see this two-week inflection point."

Ford warns extended UAW strike could result in up to 500,000 employee layoffs

Fear over Social Security's future pushes Americans to claim benefits early: survey

Traders were not happy with the stock market last month & gloomy thinking is continuing in Oct.  Sep data will be reported shortly.  If good, stock buyers may return.

Dow Jones Industrials